So, a bunch of my friends were doing fantasy baseball this year, and I decided to give it a shot. I've always enjoyed baseball, but I have to say I've never followed it very closely. This is all very new to me. I've been reading up as much as I can, particularly before we did our draft, but with the first week starting tomorrow, I was wondering if I could get some advice about my team. Any gaping holes that I don't notice, anybody I should ditch in favor of somebody from the waiver list, etc. It's a H2H Yahoo league, with 12 teams.

I'm particularly worried about my relief pitchers. I actually didn't know how important the role was until a day or so ago, so during the draft I waited a pretty long time before snagging people for it, and didn't pay too much attention even then. I'm also nervous about Reyes. Is Maicer Izturis a decent backup for him, or should I get somebody else?

I've always wanted to get into this side of the sport, the statistics and what not, and finally have the chance. Trying to throw together enough knowledge ASAP. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I also think you're probably a little short on starting pitching (never mind when you look at injuries too). Could you take a look at your waiver wire and see who's available? In a 12 teamer there's bound to be some decent value. The usual suspects for me to ask about are Kevin Slowey, Mat Latos, Ian Kennedy, and Brian Matusz, but it could be anyone. If you're not sure where to look beyond that list just filter the available players first for pitchers and then rank by percent owned and shoot off, say, the top 10 or 15 names there. Then we'll have something to work with.

DL slots are easy. You're only allowed to place players who are listed in Yahoo as on the DL in those slots (players on the DL are identified by a big red 'DL' next to their name). It's essentially free roster slots for injured players. The trick is that you can't add a DL'd player from the WW unless you have a free active or bench roster slot, not a DL slot, so sometimes you need to drop a healthy player to add a DL guy, move him to your DL, and add another healthy player after he's moved. It's generally good policy to fill all the DL slots you can.

As I thought, there's some decent talent on the wire. Angel Guzman is currently on the DL, so that's one slot freed up once you move him down, a slot I'd fill with David Price. I'd probably drop Guzman if he weren't DL'd, but this buys you some time.

Provided you have more than one DL slot, I'd suggest you drop Shoppach and add Lilly, with Lilly immediately moving to the DL. Once Lilly is moved to the DL, you should repeat the WW process I outlined above, except for hitters, and replace Shoppach with the best WW option (and I'm sure there are better options). Feel free to list the top 10 or 15 if you want some advice about whom to add.

On the reliver side I don't think Guerrier will be a lot of help just yet, so sit tight. Just as an aside, what do the active slots for Ps look like in your league? Is it all straight P slots, or is broken up into SP and RP?

NHnoob wrote:Broken up into SP and RP. I added Lilly and Price, but it feels like I'm getting a bit heavy on SPs.

I wouldn't worry, for HtH you want a balanced bench unless you've decided to punt a category. You could, for example, just give up on saves and try to add some SPs with RP eligibility like Marcum, Hughes, and Masterson. Anyway, the point is to be able to stream in as many starts as possible - for which you needed that extra SP. You'll have some decisions to make once Lilly comes off the DL, btu for now he's just an insurance policy.

NHnoob wrote:The available batters to replace Shoppach (Who I originally took since somebody told me he was a sleeper, and I was worried Posada would start on the DL.) are, in order of %owned:

Some of the available catchers specifically are Miguel Olivo, Ivan Rodriguez, Rod Barajas, and John Baker.

I'd probably add Ross to start, but the main thing, IMO, is that you need another OF guy there more (or at least as much) as you do a catcher, at least when the OF is better than the C anyway. It's HtH though, so feel free to stream in whomever's hot, especially since you have such great positional coverage from your other three bench slots.

Also, feel more than free to hold on to Shoppach for while to see if he busts out (and if the WW adds don't appeal). This is HtH, so you're in no hurry to hit a home run in the first week.